


The Raijin Library

by Glenraven



Series: Raijin Days one-shots [4]
Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Pre-Slash, Raijin Days, Shizuo trying to figure out his feelings, Teasing, and math problems, no property damage for once, study session
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-19
Updated: 2018-05-19
Packaged: 2019-05-08 23:03:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14704308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glenraven/pseuds/Glenraven
Summary: The library was not Heiwajima Shizuo’s usual habitat. However, it was exam season, and he knew that once he got home, he would find a hundred things he’d rather do than study. So he had accepted Shinra and Kadota’s offer to do homework with them. It was quiet here, and it smelled like books - dust and paper and ink - which was kind of nice. However, owing to the unannounced fourth member of their group, it also smelled of flea, which was… complicated.





	The Raijin Library

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there :) Another Raijin one-shot. I wanted to post a different one at first but realized that it's better to switch the POV back to Shizuo at this point. So you get the boys studying and reaching unexpected understandings. I hope you enjoy!

The library was not Heiwajima Shizuo’s usual habitat. However, it was exam season, and he knew that once he got home, he would find a hundred things he’d rather do than study. So he had accepted Shinra and Kadota’s offer to do homework with them. It was quiet here, and it smelled like books - dust and paper and ink - which was kind of nice. However, owing to the unannounced fourth member of their group, it also smelled of flea, which was… complicated.

He used to abhor Izaya’s smell. That smell meant trouble, it meant taunts, it meant Shizuo losing his temper and doing things he didn’t want to do, destroying things and hurting people he had no real ill-will towards. It meant collateral damage, including damage to Shizuo’s own body.  
However, since one rainy day in the summer, followed by a specific day hot enough to carry frilly parasols, things were no longer so simple. Izaya’s smell still set Shizuo off, but not necessarily in the same way.

Izaya’s smell also meant twinkling eyes sending heat through Shizuo as they glanced at him through lowered lashes. It meant Izaya dressed in a pair of old shorts, taking care of his sisters. It meant sitting on a warm roof, their faces nearly touching, that last inch between them crackling with something Shizuo didn’t want to understand. It meant Izaya standing at Shinra’s window, shoulder blades sticking out from his position against the window sill, staring out at the town.

Shizuo wasn’t sure what to do with these new things he was noticing and feeling. This wasn’t normal. They were enemies - frenemies at best. He still didn’t know why Izaya had been less of an ass the past few weeks - more than a month by now - but he was sure it was not an act of kindness. Izaya may know how to spell that word, but not what it really meant. On the one hand, Shizuo was grateful because he got angry less frequently and had more control. On the other hand though, that also left more room to feel and notice other things. Like right now, when that flea was sitting diagonally across from him. The way Izaya’s eyes were running back and forth quickly while he read. The way his hair framed his face, the angle of his delicate wrist as he propped up his cheek.

Shizuo quietly sighed through his nose. It would be much easier to focus on studying maths if Izaya wasn’t with them at the table. Kadota was doing his English homework in the seat next to Shizuo, while Shinra was across from him, studying history with furrowed brows and ruffling his hair. He had no idea what Izaya was reading - possibly that book was just for his own amusement. It was unfair how quickly that flea could absorb information and remember it.

“Shizu-chan will never understand maths if all he does is stare daggers at my lovely face,” Izaya whispered, eyes flicking up to Shizuo’s as he smirked into his hand. Shizuo’s fingers tensed around his pencil, nearly snapping it. “Shut up. You’re distracting me.”  
“How am I distracting you? I’m just reading.” The flea always made it sound so reasonable.  
“Is that book even for school?” Shizuo asked, trying hard to keep his voice quiet.  
“Nope,” Izaya grinned.  
Shizuo tried to take deep breaths, to think of a calm ocean, a quiet forest. Anything but those red eyes, the glint in them, the easy self-assurance in that flea’s voice.

“Perhaps I should take pity on Shizu-chan and help him with his math problems,” Izaya said innocently, almost like a joke. Shizuo could see it though, the hint of uncertainty in the tension of Izaya’s shoulders. Kadota and Shinra looked up, glancing at each other, probably wondering for how much longer this table would be a safe place to sit.  
Shizuo gave a deep sigh. “I don’t want your pity. But sure, try to explain. You can’t possibly make it worse.”  
The surprised look on Izaya’s face was worth it, no matter what intellectual tortures he would soon have to endure. The flea’s mouth gaped open for a second, his eyes wide. He caught himself quickly though, rising from his chair in a smooth, graceful motion. “Trade seats with me, Dotachin?”  
After a moment of hesitation, Kadota got up and grabbed his books and notes, making space for Izaya before settling down next to Shinra. Izaya took his place and scooted his chair closer to Shizuo’s.

Shizuo felt uncomfortable with the closeness, his body tensing and heartbeat picking up. He couldn’t complain though, since he was technically the one who had suggested it.  
“Show me what you’ve tried so far,” Izaya said. Wordlessly, Shizuo pushed over his sheet of paper. Izaya squinted, trying to read Shizuo’s terrible handwriting.  
“Is this for number two on the exercise sheet?” Izaya asked.  
“Yeah,” Shizuo said.  
Izaya set down the paper between them. “The beginning is actually not bad. You made a small mistake here, which is why you got this weird number, but you had the right idea. But afterwards, you made an error in reasoning. Instead of trying to painstakingly calculate this awkwardly shaped area,” Izaya pointed to the sheet with the questions, “it’s much easier to calculate the area of the whole thing and then subtract this part.”  
“Oh, I see.” And Shizuo actually did. He tried again, and the problem resolved itself in a much simpler way this time.

Over the next hour, Izaya analyzed every approach and attempt Shizuo had made. Somehow, he was really good at figuring out Shizuo’s thinking process and how he went about things. His teacher normally just thought he was crazy or stupid, but Izaya understood where he was coming from and could tell him why it didn’t work, and how he could make it easier for himself.  
Shizuo growled a the question sheet. “But that makes no sense. In real life, you would have to account for the wind and the uneven ground-”  
“Math problems aren’t real life, Shizu-chan,” Izaya interrupted. “Yeah, these questions are simplified bullshit and totally useless. But that means you can also solve them in a simplified way. You just have to stop thinking realistically and take a lazy teacher’s perspective instead.”  
Shizuo smirked. “So basically you solve maths by trying to hack into your teacher’s brain, huh, Izaya-kun? That’s very like you.”  
Izaya blinked, taken aback. “Well, yes. Sensei makes it so easy I rarely bother to show up for class anymore. I hack his computer to find the homework, and then I do some social hacking to solve it. My grades are perfect.”  
“Stop bragging, stupid flea,” Shizuo mumbled while he solved the equation, satisfied when he got a reasonable number.

A few math problems later, Izaya lazily sprawled across the table, resting his head on his arm. “I’m quite surprised. Shizu-chan tends to go about these things in a much too convoluted way,” he teased, but his smile was pleasant rather than nasty. The difference it made was unsettling. “Really, I had expected you to be too simple-minded to figure things out, but you often think too far instead. Your protozoan brain never ceases to surprise me.”  
Shizuo snorted. “You can’t call my brain complicated and then single-celled in the same breath, Izaya-kun.”  
Izaya scowled. “Whatever. Your brain is weird.”  
Kadota stifled a laugh on the other side of the table. “Your brain is no better, Izaya-kun.”  
Izaya pretended to be mortally wounded, splaying a hand across his heart and leaning back in his chair until he almost fell off. “No! Not you too, Dotachin!”  
“Boys! Be quiet!” a voice hissed from behind. Shizuo flinched and turned. It was the dreaded librarian. He didn’t dare to meet her eyes, so he stared at her shoes instead.  
“Sorry, Iwasaki-san,” Izaya said. When Shizuo glanced at him, he had a charming expression of chagrin on his face. “I got a bit carried away. We’ll go back to studying now and won’t bother you again.”  
The flea’s smile was so pleasant and innocent, Shizuo almost believed it was real. It had to be fake though, right?  
Shizuo glanced at the librarian. She looked like someone who was trying very hard to keep up a tough façade, but failing in the face of cuteness. She obviously had terrible taste. “Alright. Since it’s you, Orihara-kun, I will refrain from reporting this matter.”  
Izaya gave a breath of relief, hand still splayed over his chest. “Thank you, Iwasaki-san!”  
The librarian left, her steps soundless on the carpet.

Shizuo shook his head. “Is there anyone at this school you don’t have in your pocket, flea?”  
Izaya sighed. “Unfortunately, yes. One or two of the teachers, though I’m working on that, and the janitor. I don’t stand a chance with that one. Caused too much trouble for him.”  
“Serves you right,” Shizuo mumbled. The janitor was a nice, somewhat older man. Shizuo got on well with him. Not because he never caused the man work, but because he often helped clean up after his rampages. The man’s name was Kobe-san and he was calm, preferring not to exchange too many words while they were working. He never irritated Shizuo, and he seemed to understand that Shizuo was ashamed of his actions, even though he couldn’t stop himself from doing it again. “Kobe-san is much too smart to be taken in by you,” Shizuo added. Izaya’s eyes sparked with interest, but he didn’t pursue the topic.

They did maths together for another half-hour until Izaya got up and stretched. “This is it for me,” he declared.   
“Thanks,” Shizuo mumbled.  
“Don’t get used to it, Shizu-chan.” With one last smirk, Izaya picked up his bag and sauntered off. He probably had to pick up his sisters, Shizuo thought.

“Well, that was unexpected!” Shinra exclaimed with a brilliant smile on his face.  
“Quiet,” Kadota said without looking up.  
Shinra leaned over the table, pitching his voice lower. “Perhaps there is still a chance for you and Izaya-kun to get along! What do you think, Shizuo-kun?”  
“That won’t happen,” Shizuo said. “He was just having a weird moment, I don’t think he’ll do this sort of thing again.”  
Shizuo only had one math problem left and was determined to solve it on his own. Perhaps he could get a good grade for once. He tried to go about it the way Izaya would do it, and it was surprisingly easy.  
He really didn’t want to give too much thought to how smoothly he could put himself in the mental shoes of his enemy.

**Author's Note:**

> No chasing and no hurt bodies or feelings for once! I'm kind of surprised at myself :P I hope you enjoyed this plotless piece of fluff. Please let me know what you think :)  
> Or feel free to come talk to me on [tumblr](http://coffeebookbandbat.tumblr.com/).


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